William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

This song came up on my iPod this evening and I realized that I had not chosen it yet. This is one of, if not, my favourite John Denver song ever; it is so majestic and uplifting. It is probably the best song to showcase his vocal range and control as well as his song writing and his guitar playing. Here is a fan video with the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. +

I absolutely could not believe that I have not chosen this song yet; but after listening to this amazing song today I will. While such a melancholy song as it was written to be, the fact that the Otis Redding died just after the recording of the song makes it that much more of a sad song; his greatest hit was posthumous. Anyway, besides his excellent vocals I have always been drawn to the bass line. Here is the studio version on YouTube. +

With this being Black Friday it felt like a good time to choose this one. Originally the song was written about the economic turmoil in the 70's and 80's and the disillusion with the powers that be. Even though this song was released so many years ago it is amazing how this song is just as, if not more, relevant today. The song is a bit odd, because it mix of about three different sounds: Rock, some Traditional Scottish music, and slide guitar. Martin Barre's guitar work is heavily showcased in this one and quite good as well. Hear Fallen on Hard Times on YouTube. Watch a live performance on YouTube. +

Ooh, a late pick on Thanksgiving... I guess that I cannot go wrong with some Ozzy and one of his more beautiful tracks as well. Here is the music video on YouTube. +

I found myself humming this song this morning while I was waking up and I took it as a sign that it was in need of being chosen. I have always liked this one quite a bit, it has nice even and smooth feel to it. Watch the music video on YouTube. Here is a live performance on YouTube. +

I have only heard this song twice, (about 15 years ago), and it happened to pop into my mind yesterday. Probably the dynamics within this one is the main reason that it is so memorable. The subject matter of the song is likened to The Trial of Socrates in that a man is condemned for spreading ideas, in this case a hangman speaking about the injustices that he witnessed. I love how it starts out as Folk and then half way through it kicks in to a Pop/Rock sound; the song becomes a little repetitive at that point however. Here is the studio version on YouTube. +

This song by the Scottish group Marmalade just popped into my mind this morning and I thought it fit the day quite well. I cannot remember the first time I heard this one, it played a lot on the radio when I was young plus my dad had a 45rpm single of it; to say the least I had a lot of exposure to it. An oddity that I found out about this group was that they had two bass players, one on a traditional 4-string bass and one on a 6-string bass; however I do not believe that both were in this song. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a performance of the song on YouTube. +